iTunes has had a checkered history with color. For a long time, the iTunes sidebar displayed icons with colors that made them easy to spot at a glance. Then along came iTunes 10, which had a “somewhat Soviet utilitarian look which, to my eyes, makes it less interesting to work with.” iTunes 11 brought back color to the sidebar, and iTunes 12 nuked it.
As we approach iTunes 12.5, the current beta versions – available if you have an Apple developer account, or have signed up for the public beta of macOS Sierra – have added some color, but not in the sidebar. In this version, iTunes uses a variation on its multi-hue icon to display a filler graphic when tracks have no album artwork. It’s a nice touch; a lot better than the drab gray we had before. But will we get some color back in the sidebar again? Those little bits of color made it much easier to zero in on a specific item.
Update: In an update just today to iTunes, some bits of blue have been added here and there:
As you can see above, the rating stars, cloud icons, and play buttons are blue. Expect more color as iTunes 12.5 is refined; perhaps in the sidebar.